Chrissy Murderbot is taking his act outta here

January 24, 2013|By Jessica Hopper, Special to the Tribune

(Brock Brake/RedEye)

After many years as one of the most virulent forces in Chicago music, Chrissy Murderbot is leaving town. Upon transplanting himself here from Kansas City, Mo., Murderbot (aka Christopher Shively) installed himself into the dance music scene, started a label, promoted shows, and produced and collaborated on albums with a slew of artists.

The young DJ's sets were raucous, and his fans spanned die-hard house music enthusiasts to punks to Wisconsinites who grew up going to barn raves; Shively's encyclopedic knowledge of electronic music and its labyrinthine subgenres made his sets and parties a must for everyone in the city who cared about dance music. As his career grew and tours began taking him to far-flung locales, his success made him a target for backbiting. In late summer, Shively decided he had had enough and would pull up stakes sometime in early 2013 after finishing work on a new album.

He recently spoke to the Tribune about that decision and what the future holds for Chrissy Murderbot. Here is an edited transcript of that conversation.

Q: First off: Where are you moving?

A: Probably Brooklyn, but there's a lot of different stuff to be weighed.

Q: You moved here for opportunity — what has changed?

A: I think the night life here has really deteriorated tremendously in the past five or six years, which saddens me a lot. It used to be that there were a ton of great venues and shows, and there's a lot less of that now. And while there is a wealth of culture and music and great musicians here, there aren't a lot of industry opportunities. I'm at a point in my career where I'm looking for more high-profile remix work, production work — and those gigs just don't exist here.

Q: You brought a lot to the local scene, put a lot of effort into opening things up. Was that always met with resistance?

A: Always met with resistance by some, but met with a lot of openness and warmth by others. This city has always had a reputation for drama and petty infighting and people hating to see their peers do well, and I've definitely witnessed all of that firsthand — but at the same time I've met so many great people and had so many great times and felt a lot of genuine support and warmth from the Chicago scene, and I'm really grateful for that.

Q: As your success outside of the scene rose what was the reaction among peers and other people making music here?

A: It varies. Like I said some people were way (annoyed) because I didn't grow up on the South Side, or whatever, but then there were others who realized how hard I hustle to expose Chicago to the world and promote our city, and they respected that. I've definitely seen both sides of the coin from the local scene.

Q: You've complained about the lack of professionalism in Chicago's electronic and dance music scene. What are the long-term effects of that on the scene?

A: People in the outside world — especially the "legit" music industry — don't take Chicago seriously. They think we're all a bunch of amateurs, flaking out on deals, not showing up for gigs, stealing from each other, engaging in ridiculous overblown feuds in the public sphere, stuff like that. It's a reputation that Chicago has earned, but there are a lot of talented, professional, upstanding musicians who get unfairly stereotyped just because they're from Chicago, and it can hurt their career prospects.

Q: What would have to change about the Chicago scene for you to be able — or even want — to stay?

A: Basically more music industry opportunities, which I don't see happening. More and better night life would be great too — which is a turnaround that could definitely happen in time but isn't fixing itself overnight. It's all a bummer to be sure — I love Chicago and I'm going to miss it bitterly.